Catherine

Leukemia Survivor

In March 2014, I woke up at my normal time to get ready for work. I could barely move - I was so ill and every part of my body hurt. I didn't’t think anything of being sick since I had started to feel ill on Sunday and it was just getting worse. I figured that I would stay home sick and be back to work the next day.

By the time my husband got home from work my fever was up to 103. I was starting to show symptoms for pneumonia, and my husband didn’t like how high my fever was. He rushed me to the ER where the doctor agreed I had an acute case of pneumonia. The doctor told me that after a round of antibiotics I would be back to normal.

It turned out I couldn’t go home because my white blood count was dangerously low. That night, I was admitted to the hospital and after four days of testing the doctors finally conducted a bone marrow biopsy. The doctors said that it could possibly be leukemia. In April 2016, I was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia and began treatment later that night.

The treatment I was on, and the only proven treatment for a cure was not working for me. I had to make some very difficult decisions in less than an hour. There was never a moment of doubt, I needed to fight hard.

I had a smile on my face throughout the whole fight and even still. That first stay in the hospital lasted 54 days. I have been in remission for three years and my doctor has hopes that I will be cured of leukemia by 2018.

Today, I love looking forward to the future and living every day to the fullest. Being 25 and having to fight for my life has changed my whole outlook on life. I try my hardest to help other young adults diagnosed with cancer, and I hope to be an oncology nurse in the near future.

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The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) is the world's largest voluntary health agency dedicated to blood cancer. The LLS mission: Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. LLS funds lifesaving blood cancer research around the world and provides free information and support services.